Foldable cup

ABSTRACT

A foldable cup with a reinforced structure having a cup body and a shape-fixing ring, wherein the cup body is made of soft materials, and the cup body has a cup wall, a cup bottom integrally connected with a bottom of the cup wall, and at least two folding areas formed on the cup wall; the shape-fixing ring is a rigid ring fixed to an upper part of the cup body and covers a top edge of the cup body; and the cup body can be in an unfolded state or a folded state, wherein when the cup body is in the unfolded state, a cross section of the cup wall extends along a straight line.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/584,395, filed on Jan. 26, 2022, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/759,732, filed on Apr. 28, 2020, which is a national stage entry of PCT/CN2018/113057 filed on Oct. 31, 2018, which claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201711159830.9, filed Nov. 20, 2017, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a foldable cup.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As general cups are inconvenient to carry around, in order to meet the needs of users for a cup that is easy to store and to carry around, a conventional foldable cup usually includes a base and multiple frames on the base. Each frame has a lower inner edge snapped with the top outer edge of an adjacent frame. Before using the cup, the user has to unfold the frames and make the frames fastened with each other. In most cases, the frames are mostly made of a hard material. When the frames are made of plastic, the plastic might release toxins when exposed to heat, so the application of the cup is restricted. When the frames are made of metal, users will be easily burned when the cup holds hot drinks. Therefore, there are many limitations and inconveniences of the conventional foldable cup.

To solve the problem, some conventional foldable cup is made of soft materials such as silicone with multiple grooves at intervals on the outer surface for the foldable cup to be folded; the foldable cup is easy to clean, less likely to be deformed, and can be reused.

However, because the foldable cup is made of silicone, the conventional folded cup will still be deformed when the cup is squeezed by an external force. In addition, the opening of the cup body will also be deformed when the cup body is deformed, which further leads to severe deformation of the cup body, causing the foldable cup prone to pour and spill the contained liquid. In summary, the conventional foldable cups are easily deformed and may pose inconvenience or even danger to users. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of a foldable cup with reinforced structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems of conventional foldable cups, this invention provides a foldable cup comprising a cup body and a shape-fixing ring, wherein the cup body is made of soft materials, and the cup body comprises a cup wall and a cup bottom integrally connected with a bottom of the cup wall, wherein the cup wall comprises an inner surface, an outer surface, and at least two folding areas, wherein each of the folding area is an annular recess formed in and around the cup wall; the shape-fixing ring is a rigid ring fixed to an upper part of the cup body and covers a top edge of the cup body; and the cup body can be in an unfolded state or a folded state, wherein when the cup body is in the unfolded state, a cross section of the cup wall extends along a straight line.

Wherein, the folding areas comprises a first folding area and a second folding area, wherein the first folding area is an annular recess formed in the outer surface of the cup wall, and the first folding area is located at around an upper half of the cup wall; the second folding area is an annular recess formed in the inner surface of the cup wall, and the second folding area is located at around a lower half of the cup wall and is spaced from and parallel to the first folding area; and when the cup body is in the unfolded state, the inner surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the shape-fixing ring is in contact with the inner surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the second folding area, and the outer surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the second folding area is in contact with the outer surface of the cup wall between the second folding area and the cup bottom.

Wherein, the shape-fixing ring is integrally formed on the upper part of the inner surface of the cup wall.

Wherein, a width of the shape-fixing ring is between one tenth and one twentieth of a height of the cup wall.

Wherein, the shape-fixing ring is made of metal comprising copper, titanium, aluminum alloy, or stainless steel.

Wherein, the foldable cup further comprises a cup cap, and the cup cap is made of soft materials.

Wherein, the shape-fixing ring is in a position higher than the second folding area.

Wherein, an internal thread is formed on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring, and an external thread corresponding to the internal thread is formed on the outer surface of the cup cap.

Wherein, an intersection angle of the straight line corresponds to the cross section of the cup wall and a line perpendicular to a plane of a bearing surface of the cup body is between 1° and 12.5°.

Wherein, an average thickness of the cup bottom is less than 5 mm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a foldable cup in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in partial section of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional side sectional view of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view in partial section of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention in a folded state.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional side sectional view of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention in the folded state.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional side view of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention in the folded state.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross sectional side view showing the deformation of the foldable cup in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 , some preferred embodiments in accordance with this invention are shown. A foldable cup with a reinforced structure includes a cup body 10 and a shape-fixing ring 20. The cup body 10 is made of soft materials. Preferably, the cup body 10 is made of silica gel. The cup body 10 further includes a cup wall 14 and a cup bottom 15 integrally connected with a bottom of the cup wall 14. The cup body 10 has an inner space and an opening 11 is defined in an opposite end of the inner space relative to the cup bottom 15. The cup wall 14 further comprises an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface defines the inner space.

With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 , in the preferred embodiment, the shape-fixing ring 20 is a rigid metal ring fixed to the cup body 10. Preferably, the shape-fixing ring 20 is nested on an inner surface of the cup body 10 and extends upward to cover a top edge of the cup body 10 in an annular manner. Preferably, the shape-fixing ring 20 is integrally formed on the upper part of the inner surface of the cup wall 14. Preferably, the shape-fixing ring 20 has a width between one tenth and one twentieth of a height of the cup wall 14. In one preferred embodiment, the width of the shape-fixing ring 20 is one fifteenth of the height of the cup wall 14. The shape-fixing ring 20 is made of metal such as copper, titanium, aluminum alloy, stainless steel, or the like.

In addition, the cup wall 14 includes at least two folding areas. In a preferred embodiment, the cup wall 14 includes two folding areas, one folding area is defined as a first folding area 12 and the other folding area is defined as a second folding area 13. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , in the preferred embodiment, the first folding area 12 is an annular recess formed in and around the outer surface of the cup wall 14, and the first folding area 12 is located at and around an upper half of the cup wall 14. The second folding area 13 is an annular recess formed in the inner surface of the cup wall 14, and the second folding area 13 is located at around a lower half of the cup wall 14 and is spaced from and parallel to the first folding area 12.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , the cup body 10 of the foldable cup can be folded and transformed into a folded state.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the cup wall 14 can be folded in a manner that the inner surface of the cup wall 14 between the first folding area 12 and the shape-fixing ring 20 is in contact with the inner surface of the cup wall 14 between the first folding area 12 and the second folding area 13. In addition, the outer surface of the cup wall 14 between the first folding area 12 and the second folding area 13 is in contact with the outer surface of the cup wall 14 between the second folding area 13 and the cup bottom 15 when the cup body 10 is in the folded state.

With reference to FIG. 6 , even when the cup body 10 is in the folded state, the entire shape-fixing ring 20 is in a higher position than the second folding area 13, so a cup cap 50 can also be applied to the shape-fixing ring 20 and can cover the opening 11 of the cup body 10.

Preferably, the cup cap 50 is made of soft materials. Preferably, the cup cap 50 is made of silica gel.

With reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , corresponding threads are respectively provided on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring 20 and an outer surface of the cup cap 50 respectively. In a preferred embodiment, an internal thread 21 is formed on the inner surface of the shape-fixing ring 20, and an external thread 51 is formed on the outer surface of the cup cap 50.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the corresponding threads helps the user to easily screw the cup cap 50 on the cup body 10 with the internal thread 21 of the shape-fixing ring 20 and the external thread 51 of the cup cap 50 to be firmly combined, so that the liquid in the cup body 10 will not flow out of the inner space.

With reference to FIG. 8 , an average thickness of the cup bottom 15 is less than 5 mm. When the cup body 10 is used to hold liquid and placed on a bearing surface 70, the cup bottom 15, made of thin soft materials, is deformed. The cup bottom 15 is deformed towards the inner space and forming a vacuum space between the cup bottom 15 and the bearing surface 70. The vacuum space makes the cup body 10 to stand stably on the bearing surface 70 and makes the cup body 10 hard to slip on the bearing surface 70 or fall.

Preferably, in an unfolded state of the cup body 10, the cup wall 14 extends conically along a direction Y from the edge of the cup bottom 15. As shown in FIG. 3 , a reference line L can be defined along the cross section of the cup wall 14 through the direction Y. The direction Y has an angle of intersection θ with a direction F perpendicular to a plane of the bearing surface 70 where the cup body 10 is placed. A horizontal direction X is parallel to the plane of the bearing surface 70. A first reference line 121 is defined to extend through the first folding area 12 and parallel to the horizontal direction X. A first angle δ₁ is defined as an angle of intersection of the first reference line 121 and the reference line L. A second reference line 131 is defined to extend through the second folding area 13 and parallel to the horizontal direction X. A second angle δ₂ is defined as an angle of intersection of the second reference line 131 and the reference line L. A third reference line 151 parallel to the horizontal direction X is defined to extend through the cup bottom 15. A third angle δ₃ is defined as an angle of intersection of the third reference line 151 and the reference line L. The value of the first angle δ₁, the second angle δ₂, and the third angle δ₃ is the same, that is, a cross section of the cup wall 14 extends along a straight line correspond to the reference line L, which correspond to the direction Y.

When the user applies a force with the direction F downward from the opening 11 of the cup body 10, the force will be directly transmitted to the cup bottom 15 along the cup wall 14. Because a transmission path of the force is straight, the force does not cause the cup wall 14 to bend easily.

With reference to FIG. 3 , preferably, the angle of intersection θ is between 1° and 12.5° for better strength of the cup body 10 and convenience of production of the cup body 10. In a preferred embodiment, the angle of intersection θ is 6°.

While certain features of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, many modifications, substitutions, changes, and equivalents will now occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A foldable cup comprising a cup body and a shape-fixing ring, wherein the cup body is made of soft materials, and the cup body comprises a cup wall and a cup bottom integrally connected with a bottom of the cup wall, wherein the cup wall comprises an inner surface, an outer surface, and at least two folding areas, wherein each of the folding area is an annular recess formed in and around the cup wall; the shape-fixing ring is a rigid ring fixed to an upper part of the cup body and covers a top edge of the cup body; and the cup body can be in an unfolded state or a folded state, wherein when the cup body is in the unfolded state, a cross section of the cup wall extends along a straight line.
 2. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein the folding areas comprises a first folding area and a second folding area, wherein the first folding area is an annular recess formed in the outer surface of the cup wall, and the first folding area is located at around an upper half of the cup wall; the second folding area is an annular recess formed in the inner surface of the cup wall, and the second folding area is located at around a lower half of the cup wall and is spaced from and parallel to the first folding area; and when the cup body is in the unfolded state, the inner surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the shape-fixing ring is in contact with the inner surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the second folding area, and the outer surface of the cup wall between the first folding area and the second folding area is in contact with the outer surface of the cup wall between the second folding area and the cup bottom.
 3. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein the shape-fixing ring is integrally formed on the upper part of the inner surface of the cup wall.
 4. The foldable cup according to claim 2, wherein the shape-fixing ring is integrally formed on the upper part of the inner surface of the cup wall.
 5. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein a width of the shape-fixing ring is between one tenth and one twentieth of a height of the cup wall.
 6. The foldable cup with according to claim 4, wherein a width of the shape-fixing ring is between one tenth and one twentieth of a height of the cup wall.
 7. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein the shape-fixing ring is made of metal comprising copper, titanium, aluminum alloy, or stainless steel.
 8. The foldable cup according to claim 4, wherein the shape-fixing ring is made of metal comprising copper, titanium, aluminum alloy, or stainless steel.
 9. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein the foldable cup further comprises a cup cap, and the cup cap is made of soft materials.
 10. The foldable cup according to claim 4, wherein the foldable cup further comprises a cup cap, and the cup cap is made of soft materials.
 11. The foldable cup according to claim 6, wherein the foldable cup further comprises a cup cap, and the cup cap is made of soft materials.
 12. The foldable cup according to claim 2, wherein the shape-fixing ring is at a position higher than the second folding area.
 13. The foldable cup according to claim 4, wherein the shape-fixing ring is at a position higher than the second folding area.
 14. The foldable cup according to claim 9, wherein an internal thread is formed on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring, and an external thread corresponding to the internal thread is formed on the outer surface of the cup cap.
 15. The foldable cup according to claim 11, wherein an internal thread is formed on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring, and an external thread corresponding to the internal thread is formed on the outer surface of the cup cap.
 16. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein an intersection angle of the straight line corresponds to the cross section of the cup wall and a line perpendicular to a plane of a bearing surface of the cup body is between 1° and 12.5°.
 17. The foldable cup according to claim 9, wherein an intersection angle between the straight line defined along the cup wall and a line perpendicular to a plane of a bearing surface of the cup body is between 1° and 12.5°.
 18. The foldable cup according to claim 15, wherein an intersection angle between the straight line defined along the cup wall and a line perpendicular to a plane of a bearing surface of the cup body is between 1° and 12.5°.
 19. The foldable cup according to claim 1, wherein an average thickness of the cup bottom is less than 5 mm.
 20. The foldable cup according to claim 18, wherein an average thickness of the cup bottom is less than 5 mm. 